People often overlook the cheapest places to live in Wisconsin, as they tend to focus on its cheese-loving residents or big cheese cities like Milwaukee.
However, the real deal lies within Wisconsin’s affordable yet excellent neighborhoods.
We used Saturday Night Science and Census data to determine the most affordable places to live in Wisconsin. We compared the cost of living, real estate prices, and incomes for all 145 cities in Wisconsin over 5,000 people.
The residents of these Badger State cities won’t have to reduce their grocery budget by hunting and ice fishing or earn extra cash by plowing snow.
About 11.8 percent of Wisconsin workers now work from home, the 28th-highest share in the country — our state-by-state commute breakdown shows what that flip did to carpooling.
$45,520 median income · $683 median rent · #1 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Langlade County, Wisconsin
Next on the list is another town northwest of Green Bay. Antigo, in Langlade County, ranks as the cheapest city in Wisconsin. According to Zillow, the average home price is the lowest in the state at $172,827.
The Springbrook Trail and Antigo Lake Park are cheap things to do in town. And you save so much on housing that you’ll have more to spend for a long weekend in Minneapolis or Milwaukee.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$55,253 median income · $888 median rent · #12 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Wood County, Wisconsin
Wisconsin Rapids, located in Wood County in the center of Wisconsin, is the second lowest cost city in the state. The city has the 35th best home price to income in the Badger State.
The cost of living index at 84 is 14.0 points below the state average in Wisconsin Rapids. Wisconsin Rapids Municipal Zoo and Nepco Lake County Park offer something cheap to do with the family.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$58,638 median income · $807 median rent · #5 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Marinette County, Wisconsin
Marinette, located on the south bank of the Menominee River, is one of the most affordable places to live in Wisconsin. With a median home value of $195,369 and a median rent of $807, Marinette offers lower living costs than the national average.
Apart from being an affordable place to live, Marinette is also a great place to call home. With its beautiful location near Green Bay and Lake Michigan, residents can enjoy various outdoor activities such as fishing, boating, and hiking. The city also has a rich history as a significant player in the lumbering industry during the late 19th century, as evidenced by its preserved park on Stephenson Island.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$57,490 median income · $819 median rent · #18 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Shawano County, Wisconsin
Located about 45 minutes northwest of Green Bay, Shawano ranks as the fourth most affordable city in Wisconsin. Shawano has the second cheapest homes on this list and the 18th cheapest homes in the state. Residents earn a median income of $57,490 and pay a median price of $246,486 for homes. On the other hand, Shawano is the least economical place to rent on this list, notwithstanding the fact that you can get an apartment for under $600/month here. Shawano is home to Twig’s Beverage, who make some of the finest craft soda in the Midwest.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$53,148 median income · $771 median rent · #10 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Lincoln County, Wisconsin
If you want to live in the cheapest place in America’s Dairyland, look no further than Merrill. Merrill is known as the “City of Parks, so you’ll never be left wondering how to entertain yourself free of charge. Merrill boasts the tenth cheapest homes in the state, and the absolute lowest you’ll see on this list, with a median price of $218,030. Even more important, though, is that Merrill’s median income is $53,148, meaning there’s nowhere in Wisconsin where you’ll spend less of your salary on your home.
Merrill is located in north-central Wisconsin.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$59,472 median income · $832 median rent · #7 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Waushara County, Wisconsin
Berlin is an outstanding option for those looking for an affordable place to live in Wisconsin. The city has a median home value of $204,328 and a median rent of $832.
Berlin has the Carnegie Public Library, which offers a variety of programs for both kids and adults, along with a public park system that includes sports facilities, play areas, and a campground. The city’s historic districts, including Victorian-style homes and a vibrant Main Street, are cherished by residents. Berlin is actively involved in downtown community development by participating in the Connect Communities program.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$54,268 median income · $795 median rent · #9 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Crawford County, Wisconsin
Prairie du Chien is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,911 at the 2010 census. Its Zip Code is 53821.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$62,663 median income · $1,066 median rent · #6 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Rock County, Wisconsin
We’re going to south Wisconsin now to visit Beloit, the eighth cheapest place in the state. It’s 1.5 hours south of Milwaukee on the Illinois border.
The overall cost of living index of 88 includes low index values for utilities (98), services (97), and healthcare (64). The Blackhawk Farms Raceway and Carl and Myrna Nygren Wetland Preserve are nearby for affordable fun.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$57,222 median income · $780 median rent · #11 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Manitowoc County, Wisconsin
Life in Two Rivers has a lot going for it. Low crime and a strong labor market make it an attractive place to put down roots. And a location on the banks of Lake Michigan (with, yes, two rivers running through town) provides an excellent view and numerous free-time options.
All this comes at a pretty penny, right? Not quite. In fact, Two Rivers stands as the number 9 most affordable location in all of Wisconsin.
The overall cost of living in Two Rivers comes in at about a 20% discount compared to the national average. In town, you’ll get deals on groceries and transportation. But there’s one place where you’ll really save money: your housing budget.
The median home value in the area sits at $218,730. In itself, that’s the 11th lowest figure in the state. But put that in context with local wage levels (median income: $57,222) and the news gets even better. Two Rivers boasts the number 25 best home price-to-income ratio in Wisconsin.
Not looking to buy? Well, the median rent in town comes in at a reasonable $780 per month.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$51,421 median income · $804 median rent · #24 home prices in Wisconsin
Located in
Oneida County, Wisconsin
Rhinelander, in northern Wisconsin west of Green Bay, has the 24th lowest home prices and a solid 116th best home-price-to-income ratio. The city has the tenth lowest overall cost of living.
Rhinelander has cheap things to do, including Hodag Park and the Hodag Country Festival. It’s also right next to Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Wisconsin’s statewide median.
Wisconsin statewide median: $330,171
Wisconsin statewide median: $77,485
On the map
Where your money goes furthest in Wisconsin
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most affordable places to live in the Badger State for 2026
Determining affordability for places in Wisconsin boils down to how much it costs to live here.
You need to understand your costs relative to what people in the rest of the state are paying.
With that logic in mind, we derived several cost of living statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 for Wisconsin using Saturday Night Science. We indexed the cost of living statistics across the following categories:
- Housing
- Transportation
- Services
- Groceries
- Healthcare
- Utilities
These are then weighted together to produce an overall cost of living index where 100 is the United States average. Anything below 100 is relatively affordable. Anything over 100 is relatively expensive.
We applied the biggest weight to housing as it typically accounts for 25% or more of your budget. Additionally, housing costs are the highest variant cost across a state. We then compare these cost of living metrics for each place in Wisconsin to figure out which is the least expensive.
The “Cost of Living Index” allows you to rank all of the 145 places in Wisconsin that have more than 5,000 people from least expensive to most expensive. Any ties went to the larger city.
The place in Wisconsin with the lowest cost of living according to the data is Antigo.
We updated this article for 2026. This report reflects our eleventh time ranking the cheapest places to live in Wisconsin. The median Wisconsin home is 50 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Cheapest Places To Live In Wisconsin
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Cost Of Living Index | Median Income | Home Prices | Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antigo | 8,069 | 81 | $45,520 | $172,827 | $683 |
| 2 | Wisconsin Rapids | 18,722 | 84 | $55,253 | $219,124 | $888 |
| 3 | Marinette | 11,115 | 85 | $58,638 | $195,369 | $807 |
| 4 | Shawano | 9,522 | 85 | $57,490 | $246,486 | $819 |
| 5 | Merrill | 9,356 | 86 | $53,148 | $218,030 | $771 |
| 6 | Berlin | 5,562 | 87 | $59,472 | $204,328 | $832 |
| 7 | Prairie du Chien | 5,491 | 87 | $54,268 | $212,912 | $795 |
| 8 | Beloit | 36,534 | 88 | $62,663 | $198,921 | $1,066 |
| 9 | Two Rivers | 11,231 | 88 | $57,222 | $218,730 | $780 |
| 10 | Rhinelander | 8,316 | 88 | $51,421 | $254,838 | $804 |
| 11 | Ripon | 7,772 | 88 | $54,763 | $224,704 | $775 |
| 12 | Richland Center | 5,109 | 88 | $51,932 | $186,795 | $683 |
| 13 | Menasha | 18,273 | 89 | $64,698 | $307,807 | $903 |
| 14 | Waupaca | 6,283 | 89 | $52,727 | $319,370 | $783 |
| 15 | Green Bay | 106,253 | 90 | $66,206 | $278,024 | $932 |
| 16 | Oshkosh | 66,729 | 90 | $62,188 | $253,810 | $935 |
| 17 | Manitowoc | 34,620 | 90 | $63,757 | $235,894 | $804 |
| 18 | Racine | 77,633 | 91 | $57,740 | $208,908 | $1,033 |
| 19 | Sheboygan | 49,645 | 91 | $62,927 | $257,466 | $924 |
| 20 | Wausau | 39,996 | 91 | $64,389 | $240,743 | $1,010 |
| 21 | Sheboygan Falls | 8,547 | 91 | $71,477 | $328,448 | $883 |
| 22 | Ashland | 7,902 | 91 | $54,529 | $192,123 | $753 |
| 23 | New London | 7,726 | 91 | $60,612 | $282,581 | $837 |
| 24 | Kimberly | 7,447 | 91 | $70,451 | $281,682 | $1,161 |
| 25 | North Fond du Lac | 5,392 | 91 | $62,832 | $192,156 | $1,124 |
| 26 | West Allis | 59,612 | 92 | $67,611 | $268,506 | $1,007 |
| 27 | Cudahy | 17,853 | 92 | $66,719 | $282,520 | $1,028 |
| 28 | Reedsburg | 10,168 | 92 | $75,028 | $303,020 | $977 |
| 29 | Rice Lake | 9,030 | 92 | $52,417 | $271,838 | $856 |
| 30 | Fond du Lac | 44,494 | 93 | $62,260 | $253,674 | $913 |
| 31 | Superior | 26,677 | 93 | $64,216 | $220,786 | $900 |
| 32 | Watertown | 22,774 | 93 | $70,107 | $318,226 | $1,052 |
| 33 | Marshfield | 18,700 | 93 | $58,407 | $250,143 | $842 |
| 34 | Baraboo | 12,769 | 93 | $69,750 | $298,881 | $940 |
| 35 | Waupun | 11,174 | 93 | $65,625 | $260,262 | $951 |
| 36 | Monroe | 10,587 | 93 | $69,334 | $277,861 | $862 |
| 37 | Sparta | 9,950 | 93 | $64,973 | $272,155 | $861 |
| 38 | Sturgeon Bay | 9,806 | 93 | $59,926 | $375,223 | $1,097 |
| 39 | Tomah | 9,532 | 93 | $51,274 | $251,286 | $903 |
| 40 | Appleton | 75,023 | 94 | $80,483 | $297,642 | $1,030 |
| 41 | La Crosse | 51,356 | 94 | $55,866 | $276,422 | $1,010 |
| 42 | Neenah | 27,336 | 94 | $75,374 | $305,615 | $1,006 |
| 43 | South Milwaukee | 20,442 | 94 | $73,427 | $300,412 | $1,014 |
| 44 | Beaver Dam | 16,565 | 94 | $66,673 | $288,264 | $959 |
| 45 | Platteville | 11,499 | 94 | $43,083 | $255,582 | $863 |
| 46 | Portage | 10,236 | 94 | $64,722 | $288,025 | $1,008 |
| 47 | Plymouth | 8,890 | 94 | $68,038 | $336,696 | $914 |
| 48 | Milton | 5,706 | 94 | $85,959 | $347,048 | $930 |
| 49 | Rothschild | 5,600 | 94 | $88,261 | $253,442 | $970 |
| 50 | Mayville | 5,228 | 94 | $66,834 | $267,719 | $835 |
| 51 | Milwaukee | 566,973 | 95 | $54,234 | $220,137 | $1,059 |
| 52 | Eau Claire | 70,322 | 95 | $67,395 | $311,027 | $1,045 |
| 53 | Janesville | 66,030 | 95 | $73,446 | $288,359 | $1,054 |
| 54 | Stevens Point | 25,785 | 95 | $58,031 | $280,949 | $890 |
| 55 | Kaukauna | 17,706 | 95 | $80,365 | $303,856 | $1,083 |
| 56 | St. Francis | 9,004 | 95 | $57,368 | $282,497 | $1,004 |
| 57 | Delavan | 8,689 | 95 | $65,357 | $329,932 | $1,094 |
| 58 | Menomonie | 16,539 | 96 | $56,889 | $298,133 | $970 |
| 59 | Whitewater | 15,807 | 96 | $54,969 | $338,753 | $1,041 |
| 60 | Allouez | 13,975 | 96 | $91,250 | $319,587 | $1,114 |
| 61 | Little Chute | 11,754 | 96 | $87,538 | $298,046 | $1,150 |
| 62 | Kenosha | 99,372 | 97 | $71,239 | $273,053 | $1,186 |
| 63 | Weston | 15,749 | 97 | $78,207 | $300,001 | $1,024 |
| 64 | Chippewa Falls | 14,782 | 97 | $57,873 | $330,661 | $910 |
| 65 | Plover | 13,884 | 97 | $88,042 | $347,474 | $1,089 |
| 66 | Fort Atkinson | 12,463 | 97 | $79,302 | $297,960 | $961 |
| 67 | Edgerton | 6,014 | 97 | $72,489 | $294,921 | $961 |
| 68 | Dodgeville | 5,042 | 97 | $72,288 | $328,873 | $999 |
| 69 | De Pere | 25,301 | 98 | $84,869 | $401,113 | $1,053 |
| 70 | Ashwaubenon | 17,314 | 98 | $69,667 | $338,976 | $964 |
| 71 | Bellevue | 16,442 | 98 | $84,672 | $393,957 | $1,154 |
| 72 | Jefferson | 7,732 | 98 | $79,006 | $337,202 | $1,071 |
| 73 | Sturtevant | 6,772 | 98 | $92,647 | $281,361 | $981 |
| 74 | Elkhorn | 10,221 | 99 | $77,649 | $338,685 | $1,034 |
| 75 | Altoona | 8,878 | 99 | $84,552 | $327,629 | $1,285 |
| 76 | Kronenwetter | 8,395 | 99 | $115,044 | $330,175 | $1,125 |
| 77 | Columbus | 5,488 | 99 | $75,427 | $311,071 | $874 |
| 78 | Union Grove | 5,036 | 99 | $107,482 | $328,655 | $1,143 |
| 79 | Greenfield | 37,345 | 100 | $70,459 | $323,451 | $1,170 |
| 80 | West Bend | 32,030 | 100 | $74,076 | $347,505 | $1,076 |
| 81 | Caledonia | 25,257 | 100 | $93,152 | $380,069 | $1,141 |
| 82 | Onalaska | 19,348 | 100 | $85,867 | $359,544 | $1,130 |
| 83 | Hartford | 15,821 | 100 | $82,014 | $374,925 | $1,110 |
| 84 | Brown Deer | 12,564 | 100 | $93,974 | $283,653 | $1,183 |
| 85 | Holmen | 11,372 | 100 | $79,899 | $413,026 | $1,175 |
| 86 | Evansville | 5,782 | 100 | $81,149 | $358,801 | $1,093 |
| 87 | West Salem | 5,330 | 100 | $97,019 | $370,540 | $1,283 |
| 88 | Waukesha | 71,233 | 101 | $83,837 | $413,609 | $1,219 |
| 89 | Jackson | 8,003 | 101 | $93,170 | $416,165 | $1,151 |
| 90 | Mount Pleasant | 27,953 | 102 | $91,616 | $336,759 | $1,127 |
| 91 | Burlington | 10,987 | 102 | $83,419 | $351,654 | $999 |
| 92 | New Richmond | 10,539 | 102 | $88,157 | $374,056 | $1,168 |
| 93 | Lake Hallie | 7,285 | 102 | $86,740 | $361,887 | $1,223 |
| 94 | Lake Mills | 6,470 | 102 | $91,027 | $420,977 | $1,209 |
| 95 | Twin Lakes | 6,309 | 102 | $86,222 | $394,923 | $870 |
| 96 | Howard | 21,087 | 103 | $85,477 | $391,193 | $1,102 |
| 97 | River Falls | 16,719 | 103 | $83,627 | $406,768 | $1,107 |
| 98 | Stoughton | 13,033 | 103 | $79,551 | $428,271 | $1,157 |
| 99 | Lake Geneva | 8,521 | 103 | $75,629 | $411,280 | $1,389 |
| 100 | Greendale | 14,594 | 104 | $94,769 | $383,283 | $1,252 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, cost-of-living data. 145 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Wisconsin Affordability Summary
This is an accurate list of the most affordable places to live in Wisconsin for 2026, if you’re looking at the cost of living numbers in Wisconsin.
The cheapest cities in Wisconsin are Antigo, Wisconsin Rapids, Marinette, Shawano, Merrill, Berlin, Prairie du Chien, Beloit, Two Rivers, and Rhinelander. Not sold on Wisconsin? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Most Affordable Places To Live In Wisconsin FAQs
What is the cheapest place to live in Wisconsin?
Antigo is the cheapest place to live in Wisconsin for 2026. It posts the lowest Cost of Living Index of the 145 places we analyzed; Wisconsin Rapids and Marinette are next.
How cheap is housing in Antigo?
The median home value in Antigo is $172,827, versus $330,171 statewide, and the median rent is $683. Housing carries the biggest weight in our cost of living index, and it is the main reason Antigo takes the top spot.
What are the most affordable places to live in Wisconsin?
The most affordable places to live in Wisconsin are Antigo, Wisconsin Rapids, and Marinette. We ranked all 145 places with more than 5,000 residents on housing, transportation, services, groceries, healthcare, and utilities costs; the full top ten is in the table above.
What is the most expensive place to live in Wisconsin?
Summit is the most expensive place to live in Wisconsin. It ranks last of the 145 places we scored on the Cost of Living Index, and the other priciest spots are listed next to the summary above.
How do you measure the cost of living in Wisconsin?
We index cost of living data from the Census American Community Survey across housing, transportation, services, groceries, healthcare, and utilities, with housing weighted heaviest since it eats the biggest share of a budget. A score of 100 is the national average; anything under 100 counts as affordable.
